


no record

by exbex



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2018-07-13
Packaged: 2019-06-09 16:37:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15271731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/exbex/pseuds/exbex
Summary: Rick doesn’t remember life being so…dramatic, when he was their age. He also doesn’t remember being so sensitive, though he suspects that his mother might have a different perspective on things.





	no record

**Author's Note:**

> This is a Coach Bittle-centric story. The relationships are actually peripheral. 
> 
> Kent is Suzanne's sister's son. It is implied that Kent's parents died tragically. Hence, Kent is living with the Bittles.
> 
> The Bittles relocated to Samwell, Mass partly because of the bullying Eric endured and partly because of Kent's parents dying.
> 
> Bitty is a cheerleader. Jack is a quarterback. It doesn't actually say this in the story, but Bob works for the Bruins (for narrative convenience). Jack plays hockey but has decided that it's a hobby rather than a future career.
> 
> Basically, this is a story about Coach Bittle trying his hardest to be a good parent. In spite of the angsty stuff, it's a gentle story, and meant to be a heartwarmer. There is not an in-depth treatment of mental illness in this story, though there are vague allusions to things like anxiety, grief, etc.

Rick is used to his players being distracted, on occasion, by the cheerleaders practicing in the next field over. He’s not too hard on them. After all, that was how he and Suzanne met. A reminder to keep their focus where it belongs is enough, in his mind, unless he hears ungentlemanly comments. Those result in a lecture and extra laps around the field.

Samwell, Massachusetts is different enough from Georgia that Rick has relaxed, but not enough not to come down swiftly on any disparaging comments directed toward the three male members of the cheer team. It’s an infrequent occurrence, fortunately, but Rick is vigilant, because he’s not one to repeat mistakes.  
J  
ack Zimmermann, with his intense focus on the sport, is the last of his players that Rick would have pegged as being distracted by the Samwell High School cheer team. The boy is seventeen, however, and football practice is winding down, so Rick is about to shrug it off. But Rick has become very observant over the last couple of years, and he can’t help but notice that Jack’s attention is drawn to a certain blond cheerleader who shares a last name with his head coach. And the look on Jack’s face is not one of derision, but one of longing.

Rick is caught just slightly off guard. He is, once again, in somewhat new territory.

**

Eric is baking furiously. His hands are flying as he kneads dough and his mouth is set in a frown, jaw clenched. Rick takes a deep breath.  
“It’s nothing, Coach.” Eric hasn’t turned around to acknowledge Rick’s presence. “It’ll blow over.”

“Eric,” Rick tries for his most even tone. “You know that’s not how we handle this. Look at me, Son.”

Eric sighs and pulls his hands away from the dough. His face has the resigned look that always follows one of his fights with Kent, but there’s something else there that Rick can’t quite parse. “Coach, I…there’s something I have to tell you.”

Rick is saved from putting his foot into his mouth as Eric rushes on “I have a boyfriend at school. It’s Jack. Jack Zimmermann.”

Rick wonders if he should divert the attention back to Eric’s fight with Kent. It is, after all, the real reason they’re having this conversation. And Eric having a boyfriend might be new territory, but the knowledge that Eric would want a boyfriend isn’t.

“He’s a good boy, that one. Good student. Works hard. Seems like a consummate gentleman.” For all that Eric and Rick feel like they come from different worlds, Rick is certain that the message is clear.

Eric seems relieved. “Thanks Daddy.” He goes back to his dough and he looks more like his usual cheerful self. “I’m making Kent’s favorite for tonight,” he explains. He looks at Rick. “I think maybe we need to give him some space.”

Rick bites back his tongue. Chances are, Eric wasn’t the instigator in this particular fight. Making someone’s favorite dessert is Eric’s passive aggressive “I’ll guilt you into apologizing” move. Rick tramples down the reminder that it’s depressing that he knows exactly which desserts go with which moves, due to the frequency of these occurrences. It is, after all, less depressing than the reason that Kent has come to live with them in the first place.

**

“Is their some sort of occasion we’re celebrating Dicky?”

Rick bites his tongue for the second time in four hours. Suzanne knows what it means when Eric makes Kent’s favorite pie. Everyone in this house knows what it means when Eric makes Kent’s favorite pie. Rick sometimes wonders if everyone in Massachusetts knows what it means when Eric makes Kent’s favorite pie. She’s essentially trying to cajole two teenaged boys into confessing something, two teenaged boys with Phelps genes at that. It’s almost more terrifying than when she puts her foot down. Almost.

“Eric has a boyfriend,” Kent blurts out as he’s pouring coffee. His wide-eyed look indicates that he’s trying to keep the conversation pleasant, rather than trying to push anyone’s buttons. “Uh, that’s a celebratory occasion, right?”

Suzanne’s expression goes from surprised to concerned to cautiously optimistic in seconds. “Oh, Dicky. That’s lovely. What’s his name?”

Eric is flushed, but it’s not out of anger. “It’s Jack. Jack Zimmermann. One of Daddy’s quarterbacks.”

Suzanne shoots Rick a look that cannot, after twenty years of marriage, be misunderstood. “Well now that is certainly interesting news. I guess we’ll be seeing more of that young man around, now won’t we?”

Kent thanks Eric for the pie, does the washing up without asking, and both boys retreat to their rooms, hopefully to do homework, though Rick suspects that, on Eric’s end, there’ll be texting or calling or messaging going on, and on Kent’s end, listening to music.

Rick doesn’t remember life being so…dramatic, when he was their age. He also doesn’t remember being so sensitive, though he suspects that his mother might have a different perspective on things.

“Little ironic, isn’t it?” Suzanne speaks low, as if either of the boys has the inclination to eavesdrop.

“I don’t think so. Seems to me those two have a sort of pattern. Fight, then apologize without talking.” They really do need to learn to use their words, but Rick also figures he’ll take what he can get.

Suzanne answers with one of her long-suffering sighs. “I don’t mean about Dicky and Kent, Honey. I’m talkin’ about Dicky going with a football player, of all people.”

“Zimmermann is a nice boy, Suzanne. Polite. Good grades.”

“Have you met his parents?”

Rick knows where this one is going. Suzanne is a good mom, after all.

“I’ve met his father. Seems a good sort. Proud of his son, even though he didn’t follow in his footsteps.”

Suzanne looks startled. “Are you saying….Zimmermann? As in, Bob Zimmermann?”

He really shouldn’t, but he can’t help himself. He smirks. “Junior takes right after his mama, don’t he?”

Suzanne swats him. “Now you hush.”

**

Bob and Alicia Zimmermann are pretty salt of the earth types, for being famous and all. Rick watches the way Jack keeps shooting those gone-for-you looks at Eric, notes that he doesn’t quite seem to possess Bob and Alicia’s natural gregariousness, instead coming across as polite but shy, and can’t help but draw the conclusion that if Eric didn’t have his eyes and Suzanne’s everything else, and if Jack didn’t have Alicia’s eyes and Bob’s everything else, he’d be suspecting one of those switched at birth situations.

**

The remainder of football season goes well. They win their homecoming game and Jack and Eric attend the dance together. They hold hands going down the hall and it’s not a big deal except for the relief Rick feels.

He should feel relieved that Kent keeps his nose clean and his grades decent and doesn’t write any terrifying journal entries. And he does, except Kent is still a loner, still apt to spend more time in his room than anywhere else.

Rick remains cautiously optimistic, but his senses are tingling the night that Kent offers both his and Eric’s services in making dinner.   
“Aunt Suzanne, Uncle Rick, you should relax before dinner, let us take care of this.”

The boy likes to think he’s subtle. Rick can sense Suzanne about to press for information. He jumps in before she can say anything. “Well thank you, Kent. You just let us know when it’s ready. We’ll just be right here in the living room.” He pours Suzanne and himself a glass of wine each and places his hand in the small of Suzanne’s back in what he hopes is a gentlemanly gesture but which he knows Suzanne will (correctly) interpret as a plea.

“Now what do you suppose that’s all about?” she murmurs as they settle onto the couch.

“I cannot imagine,” Rick answers honestly. Hopefully not a call from one of their teachers. Hopefully not…no, it won’t do to let his mind go to the long list of terrible possibilities. Rick tries to think of the innocuous possibilities, but his brain doesn’t allow for many items, so he just takes Suzanne’s hand and sips wine with the other.

**

“I’m going out for hockey.”

Kent opens the conversation after everyone has settled in. His expression is some kind of combination of excitement and nervousness and defiance, though he seems to be looking for approval, judging by the tone of his voice.

Rick is so relieved that he nearly drops his fork. “Well good for you Kent,” he says as Suzanne chimes in with a “That’s wonderful Honey.”  
“I’m thinking about it too.” Eric is so quiet that he’s almost not audible. He’s barely looking at them and his fist is clenched so tightly it’s a wonder his fork isn’t bending in half. “I mean, I don’t know if I’ll make it but, there’s skating involved and…yeah.”

Rick is still processing Kent’s announcement and his various stages of relief over Kent finding a renewed interest in what he loves that he doesn’t notice that he’s about to shovel in a helping of foot instead of pot roast. “This have anything to do with that boyfriend of your’s taking up hockey now that football’s ending?”

Suzanne kicks him beneath the table at the same moment that Eric ducks his head. “What your daddy means to ask, Dicky, is do we need to buy some new skates for you?”

“I have a pair that I outgrew that’ll fit him,” Kent chimes. “But probably before the season starts we’ll both need new skates and stuff. I mean, if that’s okay.”

Rick does a quick mental calculation, and decides that it can’t be worse than figure skating costs. “Well boys, make a list for us.”

There’s something else that is weighing on him about the surprising announcement, but he doesn’t put a finger on it until the house is quiet and he climbs into bed next to Suzanne.

“Hockey is a contact sport,” he says, attempting to make it sound like something between a casual observation and a mild concern.  
“It ain’t football, and this ain’t Georgia,” Suzanne replies mildly, but there’s something in her tone that suggests that she’s not interested in discussing it.

Rick knows what a risk it is to push it, but he’s long since given up the illusion that life can be uncomplicated and unmessy. “How is Dicky gonna play hockey when he doesn’t have any experience with full-contact since he was six?”

Suzanne gives a trademark longsuffering sigh. “Richard, Dicky is older now, and maybe you’ve noticed that he’s a whole lot braver. It’s taking a lot of courage for him to take on something like this-“

“His boyfriend and his cousin are-“

“You say that like it’s a bad thing Richard. Don’t you think it’s a good sign that he’ll have people on the team who will look out for him?   
And if you haven’t noticed, this is a good sign that Kent is getting back into his old hobbies.” His father had always told him to marry a woman who was smarter than he was. There are times when Rick thinks about how easy that really was to accomplish. If nothing else, it’s a reminder that worst case scenarios are often a product of anxiety and don’t often come to fruition. Still, Rick knows sports, and has spent enough years around teenagers to teach a class about their behavior patterns. 

In the end, there’s nothing to do but wait with cautious optimism and watch the fledglings leave the nest.

**

None of the things that Rick worries about, of course, come to pass. Things that Rick should have figured would be a problem but that never occurred to him, do come to pass. 

It does not help his anxiety.

Eric and Kent get along like a house on fire in hockey. Both are well-liked and show promise, according to their coach. Kent especially could receive a nice scholarship for his playing. Eric has some problems with taking checks, as Rick expected, but he seems to be improving. He doesn’t get as much playing time, on the fourth line, but he seems to be enjoying himself.

(Eric’s willingness to rise at ungodly hours to go to practice becomes less surprising when Rick learns that Jack is helping him through checking. Rick wonders if it’s time to invite Jack to go to the shooting range).

But Rick’s worries are quickly diverted by the situation with one Alexei Mashkov.

Alexei is in Kent’s grade, and a staple of the hockey team at Samwell High School. It comes to Rick’s attention that he and Kent don’t always get along. Rick’s first reaction is one of fierce protectiveness. Kent isn’t small, but he is a little small for hockey. This Alexei boy is a bit of a giant. Rick, however, is able to recognize his own loyalties and biases.

“It’s a personality conflict,” David Hall tells him. “We see them often enough between teammates. It’s a good way for the boys to learn.”

“You know a little about Kent’s history,” Rick says. “And you know how he can spout off at the mouth sometimes…”

“There hasn’t been anything that’s warranted more than some talking tos,” Hall promises. “You know how teenagers can be; they get a little passive aggressive and smart ass with each other and it can turn into a pissing contest. Eric and Jack and the Troy kid are pretty good at settling the two of them down.”

Rick trusts Hall, but he trusts Eric even more, and fishes for information one evening while peeling potatoes.

“Alexei’s a total sweetheart,” Eric gushes. “I think he might be the happiest boy I’ve ever met. He’s such a good defenseman too…”

Rick is content to listen to his son gush about how comfortable he feels around a teammate who is twice his size and waits for a lull in the conversation before he asks about Kent and Alexei.

“Well, Daddy, you know Kent can be abrupt when he’s having an angry day.”

“Those two like oil and water?”

“Sometimes. Sometimes it’s like Kent is a grease fire and Alexei is water, you know? You don’t have to worry though Coach, I think they’ll be alright. Coach Hall would bench ‘em before anything gets too out of hand with those two.”

“You and Kent watching out for each other?” Rick looks at the dwindling pile of potatoes in front of him.

“Yeah Coach, we’re good most days.”

Rick nods and picks up the last spud from the bowl. “And Jack treating you right?” When he glances over at Eric, he’s expecting a blush and a duck of the head. Instead Eric has a dreamy expression on his face. “Yeah Coach, we’re real good.”

Rick decides to be relieved at that instead of letting his anxieties about young love run away with him.

**

The hockey season is a good one. The boys make it through without injuries and they even make it through without drama. Alexei and some of the other boys become somewhat of a fixture in the house. Rick is pleased to see Eric surrounded by friends. Even Kent seems to be fitting in well, his outbursts and bad days less frequent. He and Alexei certainly bicker, but it tends to remain at a low simmer. Rick and Suzanne have the world’s most awkward sex talk with Eric and Kent, but it helps to alleviate Rick’s anxiety, knowing that they’ve done their part as parents. 

**

April 1st has come and gone, but Rick finds himself in quite a situation one afternoon as he enters his home and toes off his shoes and discovers that he’s not alone like he’d expected.

The thud from upstairs is barely audible, but Rick does not leave anything to chance, especially considering the last two years of Kent’s life. He’s shocked out of what little breath he has left when he opens Kent’s door to find Kent and Alexei shirtless, mussed and red-faced.

It’s all a little bit like a puzzle being rearranged in Rick’s mind.

“Put your clothes on and come downstairs,” he says before closing the door and making his way down to the living room.

He would love to instate a rule about bedroom doors remaining open, but his mind hates the unintended consequences that such a rule could lead to, so he focuses his lecture on a different track instead.

“No sneaking around,” he says to a sheepish looking Alexei and a glaring Kent. “We believe in honesty in this family.”

Alexei nods, and Rick relishes, just a little, that a 6’4” athlete seems just a little bit frightened of him. Honestly, Alexei should be counting his lucky stars that Suzanne didn’t find them. “Yes sir,” he says, and Rick has to fight back a smile at the boy’s earnestness.

“You can come talk to us about anything,” Rick turns his attention to Kent. “Alright Son?”

Kent’s glare becomes sharper, though Rick is well-versed enough in the subject of one Kent Parson to know what’s behind it. “I’m not your son,” he growls.

“Would you like to be?” It’s not what Rick would have said if he’d been on his toes. For a moment, he chastises himself inwardly, but then dismisses his guilt. He and Suzanne have discussed adopting Kent at length, after all. And while it would have been ideal to have this conversation as planned, well, Rick lives and works with teenagers, after all. Fortunately, he gets his good sense back before he can manage to make a Grand Canyon sized mess of things. “Regardless, you are part of this family, Kent. Now, Alexei, are you staying for dinner?”

“Uh, yes sir. Thank you. If not…implosion.”

“It’s no imposition Son. If you need to check in with your parents you go right on ahead while Kent and I get dinner started.”

It’s possible that, of all the blessed things that Suzanne has brought to his life, the tendency to resolve conflict with the preparation of meals occupies a much higher place on the list than Rick had ever predicted. As he pulls the box of pasta and jar of tomato sauce from the pantry, Kent fills a pot with water and sets it to boiling on the stove.

“I didn’t mean to spring that on you Kent. Guess I couldn’t think of anything else to say at the moment. I ain’t always the sharpest knife in the drawer. The offer’ll stay on the table, but you’re not under any obligations. You will always be a member of this family though, and there’s always a place in this house for you. But that means tryin’ to communicate.” He pauses in his peeling of carrots and chances a glance over at Kent, who is intently watching for the bubbles to appear in the water. “Now, I’ll admit that probably means following Suzanne’s example in that area.”

Kent snorts a bit and returns Rick’s glance with a half-smile. “Thanks Uncle Rick. For…you know, everything.”

18 months later…

Kent chooses Boston University over Michigan and Rick gives himself credit for staying out of that decision. But he also allows himself to be honest with his oldest. “I don’t want to influence your decisions too much Son, but I’m awfully glad you’re sticking close by.”

Kent ducks his head but it doesn’t hide his smile. “Didn’t want to be so far from home I guess.”

Rick nods and rubs at his mustache in the hope that it’ll keep his eyes from watering. “I know how that is.”

Kent looks at him, his eyebrows knit together. “It was hard to leave Georgia, wasn’t it?”

“A little. I’ve figured out that home is wherever Suzanne and my boys are though.” Rick doesn’t expect Kent to throw his arms around him and bury his face in his shoulder, but he grips back, as tightly as both of them need.


End file.
